When a high-voltage current is applied to the electrodes of a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL), electrons are released from the cathode to collide against mercury atoms inside the CCFL. The mercury atoms being collided would release surplus energy in the form of ultraviolet light. The ultraviolet light is absorbed by a fluorescent powder coated in the CCFL and then transformed into visible light. From the mechanism of the generation of light, it is known that the CCFL is characterized by high brightness and low heat production, and CCFL has been widely applied in many electronic devices as a light source, such as being used in the backlight module of a liquid crystal display (LCD).
Taiwan Invention Publication No. 200720788 discloses a lamp tube fixing device for a cold cathode fluorescent lamp. The lamp tube fixing device mainly includes a base, on one side of which a plurality of spaced collars are formed.
In each of the collars connected to the base, a protrusion is formed at each of two ends of the collar, and a passage is formed between the two protrusions. The collar and the protrusions formed at two ends thereof together define an annular receiving space. The CCFL in the backlight module can be extended through the passages between the protrusions, so that the CCFL is retained in the receiving spaces of the collars.
A plurality of retaining sections are formed on another side of the base, and a plurality of through holes are formed on a bottom of an enclosure of the backlight module corresponding to the retaining sections on the base, such that the retaining sections on the base can be fixedly retained in the through holes on the bottom of the backlight module enclosure.
When the CCFL has been retained in the collars on the base, the retaining sections on the base are then engaged with the through holes on the bottom of the backlight module enclosure, so that the CCFL is also fixed to the bottom of the enclosure. That is, with the prior art lamp tube fixing device, the lamp tube of a CCFL can be fixed in place in a backlight module.
While the above-described prior art lamp tube fixing device allows a CCFL to be fixed in a backlight module enclosure by extending the CCFL through the collars on the base of the fixing device and engaging the retaining sections on the base with through holes on the bottom of the backlight module enclosure, the prior art lamp tube fixing device does not provide a voltage source that is very important for the CCFL to emit light. In addition, the collars provided on the base of the lamp tube fixing device also form a limitation to the arrangement of the CCFL in the backlight module.